Colonizing Mars has long been the stuff of science fiction. But we are now on the threshold of making the possibility of Martian colonization a reality. Elon Musk founded SpaceX to get people to Mars. The Europeans think we should colonize the Moon first to gain experience. But before you start packing, you should consider the many challenges involved with traveling to, and living on, Mars. Challenges such as the effects of prolonged reduced gravity, cosmic rays, growing food, and more.

Our guest speaker, Dr. Dale Partin, is a teacher of astronomy at Macomb Community College, and an amateur astronomer. He has a B.S. and M.S. in physics and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. His work has been published in over 80 scientific journals, he has 38 patents, is a fellow of the American Physical Society, a member of Sigma Xi and of the American Scientific Affiliation.